I have to tell you I was sweating this week's theme - I didn't think I owned anything I made that I hadn't already posted here. At least... that I was willing to share in public. (I keep telling people that the secret to being a "good" artist is never to let the disasters see the light of day, LOL.)
I DID find a picture though. This is Gatsby. He is not usually allowed to treat me as his own personal kitty bed, but it was so cold that day and he warmed me up as much as I did him. I love the way he always tucks up his little paws when he sleeps...
Anyway, the afghan I am under and he is on is a Fisherman knit design made with a double strand of Red Heart yarn that I knit back in college, nearly 30 years ago now. I could only afford a skein or two at a time in those days, so I used the double strand to camoflage dye lot differences. Red Heart may be looked on as the "trailor trash" of yarns in some of the more purist natural-fibers-only circles, but I'll say this much for it -- that old afghan has helped me raise 3 kids, stood up to countless pets, comforted me in good times and bad, been machine washed a zillion times, and it still looks pretty good. I wonder how many of the new uber-fancy yarns could do that!
This time of year, it is very hard for me to stay motivated to finish what I start. I wake up in the dark, go to work in the dark, and it is dark again by the time I come home, which makes it all too easy for me to make excuses and do nothing but read or tackle a sudoku puzzle. However, the days *are* getting longer, and we are even being given a forcast of several sunny days this week. Who knows - I may even finishthe other angel!
Anyway, here is the Warm Angel, finished at last.
In my defense, I had several setbacks while working on these canvases. I applied my first layer of color too heavy, which not only obliterated the collage underneath but made for a background too dark for the liquid pencils to show to good effect, which meant I had to switch to black ink, which meant I had to go to the city to GET some black ink... and on and on. Now that I think about it, I am actually pleased with myself for keeping at it, LOL.
My only regret is that the Gold Opal glaze finish on the angel doesn't show well in this photograph. I had some serious buyer's regret when I bought that stuff, but now I am so glad I have it. Such a touch of magic it gives.
Can it really be Monday again already? Between work, family, and taxes, this week has gotten completely away from me. Ah well, there is always next week. :-)
Mary,
our fearless leader for this month, chose "Clouds" for our theme this week. OK, so it's February. This is Oregon. Have we got clouds, LOL! Here is the the shot straight out of the camera. I think it was about 2:30 in the afternoon. (Yes, it really is that dark here this time of year. sigh...)
To my eyes, this photo is very dreary, and much too much too blue. Let's play!
Here we have the same photo, cropped and edited to increase the amount of detail visible in the darkest and lightest areas using this tutorial I found on YouTube. I finished it off by removing those distracting power lines and applying a warming filter to tone down that blue. I have attempted the High Dynamic Range technique with other tutorials, but this is the first time I have been so happy with the results.
Woo Hoo!
We have other cows on the farm with more precise hearts on their foreheads (it is a common marking, no matter what you see in the papers) but this little guy is only half an hour old and too cute to pass up. I would have gotten in for a closer shot, but his momma is being *very* protective and it wasn't worth the risk to myself or my camera to challenge her, LOL.
I wish this week's theme would have come up at a time of year when the views from my windows weren't so grey and dreary, but oh well!
This is the view from the window by my computer desk. That's Penny between the trees - she's a nice old pony, but she's not much more than an old lawn ornament these days. The mess in the foreground is a pile of unspun silk I discovered in last week's purge of the studio. I need to find another home for it - arghhh! I (still) have too much stuff!
